


At the Drop of a Hat

by ChillinChin



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Hats, Kaz Brekker would most definitely swoon, Waffles, thinking of how to confess feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:22:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29746320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChillinChin/pseuds/ChillinChin
Summary: Inej buys a hat for her Secret Santa... Confessions just might ensue.
Relationships: Inej Ghafa & Nina Zenik, Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker & Jesper Fahey, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa
Comments: 20
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

“You bought him a hat?” Nina said, bemused.

“Yes, I bought him a hat! What else could I get him?” Inej said, “it’s not like he’s easy to shop for. Do you think a bedazzled ugly sweater would work better?”

“Hm,” Nina said, taking a thoughtful sip of her latte, “Now there’s an idea.”

“Ugh, he’s gonna hate it, I know. But, he said he needed a hat and I figured I could pick out a decent one that’d fit his aesthetic.”

At the word ‘aesthetic’ being applied to Kaz Brekker, Nina almost lost it. Coughing from accidentally inhaling her coffee, she said “Good lord, I’m sure if it’s expensive and black, it’ll fit Kaz’s aesthetic. Maybe he even has a Pinterest board labelled ‘dark, broody men’s apparel’ you can refer to just to ensure that it is to his liking.”

Inej chuckled before exclaiming “Still, maybe he’ll think it’s ridiculous!” She started braiding her hair with a little bit of frustrated pizzazz before continuing, “Y’know, we’ve actually been getting closer recently. He’s talking with me about things that aren’t superficial or involving schoolwork. I just… I don’t want to mess up whatever fragile thing we’ve got going.”

Nina gave Inej a Look before saying “Inej, if Kaz manages to find some offense to a freaking HAT, that’s his problem and not yours. Also, I’ll sucker punch his ass if he so much as looks at that hat funny when you give it to him.”

Beginning to laugh a little too hard, Inej tied off the end of her braid. “Okay Okay, you’ve got a point, it’s just…”

“It’s just what?” Nina’s curiosity peaked as she began to realize that Inej was a little too worried for this conversation to just be about a secret santa gift.

“I care about him, Nina.” As she confessed that one simple phrase, Inej fixed her eyes straight to the far end of the path that the two were strolling down. “I care about him and don’t want to mess things up.”

“We all care about Kaz, Inej. He’s like a scary antisocial lone wolf with a spiky personality. Like a cute porcupine. He seems scary. But, really those spikes are just because he’s afraid to be picked up and cuddled.”

Inej smiled and turned towards Nina “That is such an incoherent and strangely accurate comparison, but that’s not what I mean…”

It took a few seconds before Nina clued in and abruptly stopped in the middle of the snow laden path. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“You like liiike Kaz,” Nina grinned.

“Nina, we’re not in middle school, we’re in university for God's sake.”

“I know that, but Wow, this is- Wow.”

“I know, but… you know Kaz. The likelihood that he’d ever feel the same way is nonexistent. Even if he did feel the same way, he would never want to act on those feelings.”

Nina sighed, “Inej, Kaz is gone for you. We all know it, anyone with eyes, except apparently you, can see it! You do realize that you’re one of the only people that can make him smile regularly,” catching Inej’s doubtful look, Nina continued, “I don’t mean that weird scheming heartless smile of his, I mean a genuine smile. You make him happy, no one does that.”

“I want to believe that, I do.” Inej cast her eyes to the treetops, “He’s helped me get through so much, yet it seems like I don’t know him, and I don’t think he wants to be known.”

Nina grabbed Inej’s hand as she said in a strangely serious tone, “There is a difference between not wanting to be known and being afraid to be known. Kaz has got history, the people with the highest walls built around themselves always do. Kaz has let you behind some of his defenses since day one. He wants you in his life. So give him the freaking hat and maybe admit your feelings while you're at it.”

Removing her hand from Nina’s, Inej began walking at a faster pace down the forest path, empty coffee cup clutched in her hand. “It’s not as simple as that. If I just admit my feelings for him out of nowhere, he’ll freeze, or ignore me, or outright stop talking to me.”

“Inej,” Nina called out as she jogged to catch up to the taller woman, “What do you think is gonna happen? Do you think you’ll just be chillin at his place eating and you say ‘hey Kaz, I like you as more than a friend,’ and he just replies with ‘pass the salt’?”

“That’s exactly what I mean, Nina! That’s not actually too far fetched of an idea.”

“Okay, I concede, the man is a little cold-hearted. But he wouldn’t ignore you, he’d probably faint or swoon or whatever the swoon equivalent is for Brekker.”

Her laugh turned into a snort as Inej said “Kaz Brekker would not swoon.”

“He would, I’ll start a bet on it. I’ll let Jesper and Wylan know. We’ll put money on whether or not Inej Ghafa can make Kaz Brekker swoon.”

“Oh, shut up Nina!” Inej said before Nina caught up to her. 

Linking her arm through Inej’s, Nina began to formulate a plan of how she could get her best friend to finally confess her feelings for Kaz.


	2. At The Drop of... Dishes?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaz confesses his feelings for Inej to... Jesper! There's also waffles. Well, there's actually waffle dough, but let's not get caught up in the details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! I come bearing another chapter, suprise!! Sorry there isn't any Kanej interaction yet, but I really love the thought of them worrying over it with their friends before finally coming to their senses. If you're liking the story so far, please don't hesitate to leave a kudos and/or comment! Feedback helps fuel me.

On a beaten up old armchair, Kaz Brekker lounged. He had propped his good leg up on one arm of the chair whilst stretching his bad leg out towards the floor. A quarter repeatedly appeared and disappeared between his fingers as he stared at the rickety old ceiling fan above him.

A clang from the kitchen made him drop the quarter. “What the fuck are you doing Jesper?!”

“I’m making waffles!” Jesper hollered back , accompanied by a chorus of clanging.

“Then why does it sound like a war zone?” Kaz grumbled to himself as he stood up and grabbed his crow-headed cane before making his way to the tiny kitchen in the next room. Well, it wasn’t exactly a room per se. It was practically an alcove that somehow fit a tiny counter, oven, fridge, and microwave along with limited cupboard space.

Leaning against the wall that acted as the opening for the kitchen, Kaz said “You do realize we don’t have a waffle iron.”

“What?” Jesper turned around, covered head to toe with flour.

Kaz quirked an eyebrow at his gangly friend.

“How do I make waffles without a waffle iron?” Jesper asked, baffled.

“Why would I know?”

“Hm,” Jesper shrugged, “Well, you are Kaz Brekker after all. You know everything.”

Smirking, Kaz said “While I’m ever so flattered that you think that, making waffles is one of the few kernels of wisdom I do not possess.”

“Ugh,” Jesper leaned back against the messy counter and ran a batter caked hand though his flour topped hair, a hopeless expression adorning his face. “Now I know why no one wants to date you, Brekker. You don’t even know how to make waffles.”

“You don’t either.”

“Well, I don’t need to. I’ve got Wylan,” Jesper replied, smiling.

“Speaking of our red haired friend, didn’t you say he was coming over in…” Kaz glanced at his watch, “fifteen minutes?”

“Shoot! Fifteen minutes?” Jesper jumped up and began hastily cleaning up the utter wreck of a kitchen.

“Is that why you were… attempting to make waffles?” Kaz inquired, gesturing lazily to the flour dusted room.

Hastily scrubbing the dishes, Jesper said “Yeah, and Nina invited herself. She’s the one that demanded the waffles.”

“I can ask Inej to pick up some waffles before she comes over,” Kaz offered, eyebrows knitting together in thought.

“Oh! That’d be great, I didn’t realize she was coming today,” Jesper said as he turned around, promptly noting Kaz’s expression, “What’s up?”

Kaz looked up at his friend, “What do you mean?”

Jesper raised his eyebrows, “I mean, what’s up with that face?” Jesper waved a soapy spoon in Kaz’s general direction, “Is something wrong with Inej or- did you do something?”

Affronted, Kaz said “Why would you think I’d do something? There is nothing wrong with Inej.”

“Are you sure? You seem… thoughtful.” Jesper said with another flourish of the sud coated spoon.

Kaz looked like he was about to brush the comment off before he finally decided to fess up, “It’s just, things have been… different recently.”

“What do you mean, different? Good different, bad different?”

Kaz sighed as he fiddled with his cane in a very unKaz-like way, “We’ve been getting closer recently and I… I’ve been meaning to talk to her about…” Pausing, he struggled to find a way to properly articulate his feelings.

“Talk to her about…” Jesper urged slowly, smirking as he went back to wiping down the counter.

“Aboutmyfeelingsforher,” The words rushed out before Kaz could think better of it.

“Ahhhh, you are finally admitting that you are totally gone for our darling Inej!” Jesper said, glee in his voice.

“What do you mean ‘finally’?” Kaz said snappishly.

“I mean,” Jesper waved a plate dramatically, “that you have been mooning over Inej for what’s going on a year now and have made no mention of it, to me, your bestest friend in the whole wide world.”

“Hm, I would say that status is debatable,” Kaz said, shooting a joking glare towards his bestest friend.

“Hey! Don’t change the subject. You were going to elaborate on your feelings.”

“Why would you assume I’d do that?” Noting Jesper’s bemused look, Kaz sighed and continued, “I’ve been trying to figure out how to ask her if she felt the same way, but haven’t thought of any scenario where everything wouldn’t be ruined. I don’t want to jeopardize our friendship with the prospect of a relationship, especially after everything she’s gone through.”

“Kaz, if you truly believed that every scenario would end up badly, then you wouldn’t even have begun this scheme in the first place. You must know that there’s a very high likelihood that Inej would either admit to feeling the same way, or at least let you down gently.” Jesper punctuated the ending of his sage statement by accidentally dropping a bowel filled with waffle dough to the floor.

Kaz laughed as he said “The bowel doesn’t seem to agree.”

“I don’t need your criticism,” Jesper huffed as he grabbed the last remnants of paper towel that sat on the counter.

Shooting off a quick text to Inej regarding the urgent need for waffles, Kaz declined to offer any help to his struggling friend.

“You know, Kaz, after the insanely intelligent relationship advice I just gave you, the least you could do would be to-”

A knock at the door interrupted Jesper’s useless request.

“I’ll grab the door,” Kaz said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! Have a wonderful day or night or afternoon or whenever you are reading this! Just as a warning, my updates can be sporadic, but I'll definitely do my best o write frequently.  
> Thanks again for giving this a read!


	3. After the Knock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nina and Wylan join the party!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Sorry there isn't any Kanej interaction once again, but there will be soon! I honestly love all our beloved Crows interacting and I enjoy the thought of them all just wanting Kaz to come to his senses. I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's rough, but I'm too tired to do any serious edits, so I figured I'd go ahead and share it. 
> 
> I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy and happy!

“You’re early,” Kaz said to the timely guest who stood on the other side of the threshold.

“What a wonderfully warm welcome!” Nina exclaimed as she made her way into the small apartment, Kaz strolling ahead of her.

From the kitchen, Jesper yelled “That doesn’t sound like Wylan!”

“Indeed, it is not.” Kaz replied.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure both of you are terribly disappointed that Wylan or Inej didn’t come first. Afterall, neither of you are head over heels in love with me, unlike Jesper is for Wylan, and you, Kaz, are for-”

“Nina, must I declare my undying love for you to prevent you from ending that sentence?”

Dramatically clutching her hand to her chest, the brunette said “Oh my, Kaz. Whoever would win in a duel for my affections? You or my dearest Matthias?”

Half suppressing a snort, Kaz turned back around smirking to face his dramatic friend “Oh, I would surely win in a fight.”

“Really? Matthias is in the army, so you would be facing someone professionally trained.” 

Kaz rolled his eyes, “We both know I fight dirty and would most definitely win. However, I may be motivated to purposefully lose the fight just so I wouldn’t have to deal with you.”

Faking devastation, Nina gasped, “Oh goodness, how will I ever recover from this disappointment?”

Returning to his seat, Kaz grabbed a paper back. “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

Jesper came out of the kitchen alcove, still covered with flour and batter, “Are you guys done with the dramatics?” 

“You’re one to talk! You are the king of dramatics, Jesper Fahey.” Nina said as she turned to behold the mess that was her gangly friend.

Jesper bowed to Nina, dried clumps of batter tumbling off of him as he did so. He kissed her hand before looking into her eyes saying “And you Nina, are the queen.”

“Good lord, how am I friends with you two?” Kaz did his best to appear discontented, but a slight smile tugged at his lips. He’d never thought that he’d have something like this. Friends, a family really. He’d never thought he’d enjoy simple scenes like this again.

“Kaz, you know you love us, plus, out of the three of us, you are honestly the most melodramatic,” Nina said as Jesper straightened himself.

At that, Kaz just gave a slight grunt in response as he opened his book, a smile still threatening to coerce his lips away from his characteristic frown.

The opening of the front door interrupted the somewhat goofy yet heartwarming moment to reveal a slightly out of breath blushing redhead. 

“Sorry I’m late!” Wylan exclaimed as he removed his jacket and placed it on one of the antique hooks by the door.

“No worries, wonderful,” Jesper said as he strided over to try and bring his boyfriend into a hug.

“You are not touching me in that state,” Wylan said, chuckling at Jesper’s affronted expression.

“Oh, you’ve touched me in much messier states and you know it.”

Wylan’s face seemed to become even redder as he swatted Jesper’s arm.

Finally noting Jesper’s ‘battered’ appearance, Nina decided to intercede in the conversation, “You do realize, Jesper, that I requested waffles, and not yourself covered in waffle?”

“Oh, but I am much more delicious than waffles,” Jesper replied, cheekily winking at Wylan as he tried to wrap an arm around the younger man’s shoulders.

“For goodness sake, Jes, go take a shower,” The redhead said as he pushed away the encroaching, batter covered arm.

“Fiiine,” Jesper whined as he lumbered off to the bathroom.

“I guess I’ll do that idiot a favour and clean up the mess he’s surely made of his kitchen.” Wylan said, walking with purpose to the tiny room.

“Ok! Ask me if you need any help,” Nina called after him before sitting on the sofa perpendicular to Kaz’s seat. You see, Nina would have gone and immediately helped clean up with her friend if she didn’t have another plan in mind. Afterall, she was the reason for the whole waffle fiasco, but she wanted to seize this moment and attack Kaz with a few questions.

Crossing her feet on the coffee table across from her, Nina glanced over at the raven haired head that was intently burrowed in the pages of a musty old book. “So, Kaz, any idea what we’ll be eating now that Jesper has proven lacking in waffle making ability?”

Not even bothering to look up, Kaz said “Inej will be bringing some waffles from that one diner you two like, she’ll be here in a bit.”

Elated at this revelation, Nina decided to get right to the point of her endeavor; “Speaking of Inej, how have you two been doing?”

Kaz looked up scowling and said “What do you mean by the two of us? Inej and I are as we’ve always been.”

“Hm, keep trying to evade this line of thought, buddy, and you’ll find yourself missing out on something important.

His scowl deepening, Kaz asked “did you just call me buddy?”

“Not the point, and you know it. When are you gonna actually admit how you feel to her?”

“Nina,” Kaz all but growled. Despite being able to discuss this with Jesper, Kaz found the thought of sharing his feelings with Nina increasingly undesirable.

“Kaz.”

Kaz began once again to read his book and pointedly ignore Nina.

“Ugh, fine, be like that,” Nina said before standing back up to head to help Wylan out with the waffle war ground.

As Nina left the room, Kaz continued to stare at the pages of his book, but he couldn’t process the words. All he could think was that if both Nina and Jesper knew that he had feelings for Inej, then Inej herself must also have an inkling. And that thought scared him more than he could ever admit.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! I hope you enjoyed this! Please let me know if you've got any feedback.
> 
> I hope you all are staying healthy and happy :)


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